Orlando Andico <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> You can actually get Visual Studio .NET 2005 Personal Edition, and SQL
> Server Desktop Edition, for free (as in beer of course). It can't do
> web services though, but you can create Windows.Forms based programs
> (i.e. desktop GUI apps) with it.

So why didn't you tell me in the first place? :D I'll check it out,
thanks.

> I wish Microsoft would come up with an academic program where
> qualified students could get themselves legal copies of the *full*
> development suite for free (as in beer). That, and a  highly
> subsidized or free MSDN access. It would promote a lot of good will, I
> think.

Yes, I see Sacha already hinted that AdMU has this thing with M$ going
on for quite some time now. I also believe the popular compsci schools
also have this set in place...

> Make no mistake, the Microsoft products of 10 years ago left much,
> much to be desired. It's part of what drove me to UNIX/Linux. but
> today's Microsoft products (both OS and development) are much, much
> better.

And that is what still drives me to be tolerant still of using these
products. Not that I abhor them: I still maintain some respect for
windoze et al. because that's where I came to realize how *I came to
want more* from my computing, that Windows cannot provide at the
time. Indeed, M$ has come a long way, and that's a nice feat...

> I don't think Uncle Bill has that much to say about the matter. Part
> of the reason (daw) is profanity in the comments! Also remember that
> Windows code is loaded with patents and copyrights that are NOT OWNED
> by Microsoft. so even if Uncle Bill or Ballmer were *convinced* of the
> value proposition of freeing Windows (which they are not..) it would
> be very, very hard to pull off.

But still *not* impossible. :D I like to have a little hope. Maybe when
we all get too old to read from the CRT/LCD, that would be the grand
time when they open it up. Assuming, of course, that nobody else would
have written a Windows clone 99.99% compatible with everything else and
released either as BSD or GPL...

> i would also like to point out that, even though we all love to bash
> Uncle Bill for his money-grubbing ways, the Bill and Melinda Gates
> Foundation has already given ~ $20 Billion for AIDS research and
> vaccination in Africa. Compared to his total fortune, it's not as
> "impressive" as Ted Turner's $1 Billion donation to the UN (since
> Ted's fortune is < $2 Billion). But in absolute terms, Uncle Bill is
> the largest philanthropist in the world today.

That is something *nobody* can dispute. Well, I guess we all have to him
a pat on the back for that one, saving the world :D.

Still, in the back of my mind, I wonder if those guys doing the research
are on FLOSS... probably unlikely :/

-- 
ZAK B. ELEP     <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>     --      <http://zakame.spunge.org>
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